Hi everyone...Well, I thought I would give a stab at powdercoating, so I purchased all the necessary equipment and after a couple practice runs, this system works great and it's easy too. Thought I would share the experience:

I'm using the Caswells el-cheapo system. But, I guess there all the same. I just picked up a toaster oven, so I really am limited right now. It's working out pretty good though. I plan on buying an electrical "CHEAP" oven, hopefully soon.

914GT, where do you buy your powders? and does it really make a difference?

I've bought powders from Eastwood. You can powdercoat anything able to handle the oven temp (400F or so) and able to conduct electricity. A burrito probably does not fit that description, although I had one once that did.

By the way - I bought a cheap toaster oven from Costco which works great. It's funny telling my wife I have to go to the garage to check on something in the oven. Got a pair of calipers in there. I did all my windshield and rollbar trim with a heat gun. That works for parts that don't fit in the oven and will heat up quick with a gun. I was going to try a couple 1000W halogens I have sometime to see how they would work out.

Good info. How do you plan to heat the larger engine sheet metal? Does anyone know how the shops do large pieces? With an oven or with heat lamps? There was a thread on the 914Club forum and people discussed using heat lamps with reflectors to direct the heat.

How did the heat gun work, was the powder cured evenly with it? The curing lights are a bit expensive and I have been debating on whether to buy one or not. Still haven't located an oven yet, I have been looking everywhere. I'm to cheap to buy a brand new one. The toaster oven works fine for now, but I'll be doing the larger sheet metal soon. I just picked up some powder from Eastwood and I will give it a try.

The heat gun works, I think it chips a little easier especially with thicker parts that take longer to heat up - probably not curing long enough or hot enough. But thin stuff like trim you can get really hot with the gun and it works fine.

The commercial shops use big walk-in ovens or IR quartz lamps. For a home shop I'd think cheap 500-1000 W quartz halogen security lights would work. Most of the energy is converted to heat which is what you want.

I bought a new toaster oven for $39, then saw one at the local thrifty store for five bucks. Wonder if they'd take my new one back after it's smelling like powdercoat and yellow & black plastic baked on? I'd tell them I'm just a lousy cook...

You'll just have to try it. The bigger the wattage (1500+) the better. How it works all depends on the 'thermal mass' of the part and how well you can get localized temps up to 400 deg. or so. Maybe put a heat lamp on the back side and the heat gun on the other. Don't worry about the heat gun blowing off the powder, it sticks pretty good.

I've got some orange peel. On the parts I've done it's not been a problem. I have not tried sanding and buffing, don't see why that would not work. You'd want to sand with a hard block with maybe 1500 wet, then buff with a wool pad and compound. You could try sanding and recoating with powder too. Seems the oven gives less orange peel than the heat gun, no doubt due to the melted powder better able to flow out smoother.

Rod, the regular powder should be ok. I don't think these parts get real hot, but maybe somebody with more experience with working on these motors can comment if these part get anywhere close to 400 deg. If they do you better go with the high temp powder.

Why not get a household electric oven from a remodel or applicance store that deivers and takes away the old? Many times these things work OK. You know, you be stylin' if you got a double oven built in model. You could have 2 batches going at once. Hide the electric bill fom your wife.

The heads will get close, but if they get to 400F you have real problems. The intake pipes should be cooled by the air going through them (to some extent) and the fuel being squirted into the area. They are also insulated from the heads by those plastic "phenolic block" spacers/gaskets.